Is the legendary “big four” always should be considered as the key factor in accounting recruitment? As Lilly Cao says:”Big four is a great and necessary background, but that is not all, especially when in-house 500 multi-nationals are recruiting for finical managers who have to know at least four disciplines: accountancy, tax, internal audit and Finance, planning and accounting. So how to identify if the candidates got what you are looking for? What is the ideal career path for an accountant? As the division manager of accounting team, Lilly Cao has the answers for all.
Firstly, we can’t help but asking: what is the right candidate for an accounting position? And how many are out there? “I have deal with many good candidates, ” as Lilly says, “most of the great ones have something in common, they are top university accountant major, at least 3 years working experiences in the big four.” The reason why big four is so important is, they serves as a “training centre”, and new accountant graduates can learn a lot by dealing with all different kinds of clients, what’s more, they can also learn how the multi-national companies operate, which can fully equip them with international standard accountant practices. And during the big four time, they also secures the “must have” certificate such as CPA, ACCA, CMA and CIA. And then they go to multinational companies to do the in-house accounting or internal auditor.
However, “big four isn’t everything; it’s just a big school where they can learn all the basics,” says Lilly, “it’s because the in-house accounting position requires deeper and more sophisticated understanding of the responsibility. And right now we only got about 30% of the candidates who have both experiences in the big four and in-house, which is absolutely not enough for the demanding.”
Secondly, a perfect CV doesn’t make a qualified candidate; it’s also about their mentality as well as their personality: are they stable or ambitious? Since they have to work for a long time to be able to perform the whole year financial report, so stability is very important; Are they more corporative or more individualism as lots of cooperation is needed among other departments that involves budget; and are they detailed enough to make sure every single number is correct? All of the soft skills factors need to be considered when selecting the very right candidates.
Finally, different positions requires different skill set and mindset, if it’s simply a accountant, a few years big four background is surely enough to serve it well; while if the position involves stock market or about accounting firm, then the right candidate must have a CPA and also the big four background; if it’s a financial controller, then his experiences must involve accounting, audit, financial planning and accounting, which requires certificates like CPA, ACCA, and CMA accordingly. “Identifying the right candidate is crucial,” says Lilly, “but it definitely takes disciplined focused experiences.”
Lilly Cao runs Antal International’s accounting team based in Beijing and Shanghai. This division recruits qualified accountants focus on Finance, management, controlling, Tax, Accountancy, Credit field, from middle to senior level positions. Accounting team has proven track record in recruiting positions of CFOs, FCs, Managers, and Analysts, etc.
For further information please contact LCao@antal.com.cn or telephone +86 10 6410 8866.
